Michigan

[Jenerva]

to oyster shell or egg shell? that is the question.

 

[NovaAman]

If you eggshell, crush them up so small that they do not still resemble eggshell at all. And welcome to MI thread

Bethanyrae, Thats so brave. I have a cat that is outside and she never troubles the chickens, not even the little ones. But she will take out a bird. But there is this other cat out there, and I will shoot that sucker if he gets to close!

 

[RaZ]

How is this for chicken math...?

Chick Days at TSC...want 3 but have to buy 6 (6 x $1.99)
Chick food - stock up so I save a trip to two (2 x $9.99)
Food cup - get an extra so 1 is always clean (2 x $5.99)
Water cup - same as above (2 x $5.99)
Pine shavings (2 x $8.99)
Plastic water trough as a brooder ( $75.00)
Red heat lamp bulbs - already have the clamp-on fixture ($8.99)
What the heck, might as well have a spare fixture ($6.99)
Magazine? Why not ($5.99)
Another pine shaving bale to save that later trip ($8.99)

So as the cute cashier is ringing this all up I flirt with her shamelessly.
The weather is still pretty chilly so she says leave the chicks while we load you up. OK. Carry out 2 pine bales, buddy carries the food, we pull around the side. Load the trough, pull back out front. Go in for the chicks while the cashier carries out the 3rd bale, I put the box of peeps in the cab while buddy gets the rest of the goods.

So I get home and set up the whole shebang...there are 7 chicks! Check the receipt...Paid for 3 pine but but had 4 in the truck...everything else was correct, but wait. They never charged me for the peepers... (7 x $0.00)

Since the cost of chickens is multiplied by the cost of materials and the chickens didn't cost anything, the net total was ZERO!

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:
I have raised hundreds -- at this point the numbers are probably reaching the thousands -- of birds. I have always recycled egg shells. I have never taken great care for them to not resemble eggs. The only egg eaters I have ever had were one batch of light brahmas that were, as it so happens, never exposed to egg shells whatsoever, in any form. IME, you'll want them crushed a bit so the birds are dragging half an egg shell all over the place making a mess and wasting them, but you don't need to go to great lengths to make them unidentifiable.

 

[NovaAman]

Well that works!
Speaking of shavings... I am thinking of getting straw or hay for the winter months... which one?

 

[NovaAman]

Quote:
I have raised hundreds -- at this point the numbers are probably reaching the thousands -- of birds. I have always recycled egg shells. I have never taken great care for them to not resemble eggs. The only egg eaters I have ever had were one batch of light brahmas that were, as it so happens, never exposed to egg shells whatsoever, in any form. IME, you'll want them crushed a bit so the birds are dragging half an egg shell all over the place making a mess and wasting them, but you don't need to go to great lengths to make them unidentifiable.

I just take a meat tenderiser to mine. Then take em out on the cutting board and let them have have at it! LOL. Its a

 

[ChicwannaB]

Quote:
understood clearly

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:
Straw. Besides being considerably cheaper (and the fact that to those of us who raise livestock for a living find it sacrilegious to use hay for bedding

-- especially this year when livestock are being culled en masse due to hay shortages) hay holds moisture and is more prone to molding. In the winter this can manifest in more condensation problems -- and potentially frostbite -- in your coop. That said, the chickens would love some hay to eat. We give them access free choice to grass/alflafa mix hay and it considerably reduces the amount of grain they consume. Especially in the really cold months.

 

[FlyingFChick]

I have a question for anyone who is or has been in 4H. My 5 year old wants to do it with her friend who is going to do it this year. She wants to raise chickens. My question is this. I know with the large animals you usually sell them, do you have to sell them? If so, it is a major deal breaker for her. I thought that someone here would know!

Thanks!

 

[snowflake]

Raz, love your math!!!!
Nova, I would get some of both. I can get hay and straw for $2.50 a bail, I like the straw for nesting box and roost board cover(makes cleaning easier) but the hay I get has a lot of grass in int and they love to scratch and eat, I found it very entertaining for them in the winter.
Eggshells I dry in a paper bag when the bag is full I crush them up and through them to the chicks. no egg eaters here

what kind of treats are you freezing for your chicks for this winter? I thought of freezing some squash, pumpkin and tomatoes.